By ADAM GIFFORD
Auckland accounting software company Greentree has bought a British company specialising in software for stately homes that have been converted into hotels.
Greentree's managing director, Don Bowman, said the company was faced with the challenge of converting its DOS-based product, Guest Flex, to run on modern PC operating systems.
But by selling to Greentree, it was providing an upgrade path for its 50 customers.
Mr Bowman said the company cost a couple of million - "We saw that as good value" - and a further $500,000 to convert the hotel-specific parts of the software.
"We've had a good reaction so far from hard-nosed front-desk staff.
"They say it hits the spot regarding ease of use," Mr Bowman said.
The connection with Guest Flex came through co-founder Paul Mann, who has moved to New Zealand to work for Greentree.
Mr Bowman said the hotel operation could be used as a base for sales into other industry sectors or remain A standalone activity.
About 100 sites have this year bought Greentree software, which is aimed at companies with sales of up to $150 million.
About half the sales were new business here and in Australia. The remainder were conversions from Greentree's Dos-based CBA accounting system.
Although the company hopes to eventually convert all CBA sites to Greentree, the older software continues to sell, with 10 sites secured in the past year.
Most Australian sites upgraded to version 4.0 of CBA 2000 before the introduction of GST. The market there has since slowed.
Greentree is written in Jade, the programming technology developed by Aoraki Group. Jade Development partner Bizpoint Systems, in Singapore, has been appointed a Greentree reseller.
Mr Bowman said Bizpoint Systems planned to convert several hundred of its customers to Greentree software.
